Rain, J.R.: Moon Dance (A Vampire for Hire) (2009)

Moon Dance is the first novel in the Vampire for Hire series. Vampire for Hire is about Samantha Moon – a PI who used to be an FBI agent. Her career with the FBI ended when she contracted a “rare skin disease” otherwise known as vampirism.

Vampirism in A Vampire for Hire means that you are supersensitive to the sun but you can stay awake during the day. But it is at night that Sam really comes alive. Samantha seems to have good hunches, does not become ill any longer and is able to take on endure more pain than before. Longevity also seems to be one of the qualities Samantha has acquired along with extra strength and speed – if she keeps herself fed. Feeding isn’t Samantha’s favorite time and keeping her kids from finding out that the freezer in the garage contains bags of animal blood is a high priority for her.

In spite of being a PI, Samantha seems kind of clueless about the possibility of a super-natural community at large. Her case concerning the murder attempt on Kingsley Fulcrum opens Samantha’s eyes to just how blind she has been.

I liked Samantha. She showed an extreme talent for denial, one that I fear is all too common. People’s denial abilities never cease to amaze me, my own included. Like a lot of people she has stuck it out in a marriage she is unhappy in. Understandably, her husband has had issues with the whole “wife becoming a vampire” thing. Sam is afraid of losing her children if they divorce.

The people around Samantha are generally a little (or a lot) afraid of her without knowing exactly why. The few who do know what is going on in her life want to be there for her, but – you know – Vampires. Huge life-changes can do that to the people around us. Just ask any one who has contracted cancer.

Moon Dance is the kind of novel that leaves me undecided as to how I feel about it. I liked it. I mean, it was free – what’s not to like about that? It’s just that every once in a while I would shake my head at the sillyness (or maybe clicheness works better) of the story. On the other hand there were some really great scenes – like Samantha’s evening jog. So, good but not great.

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No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.